What the h@!l is emo?

Question

Okay- so alot of bands i like seem to be in the emo genre- but im so not up on what emo means- ive been wondering for years and never wanted to ask-

What does emo stand for??? where did that word come from?? let me in..

Answer 1

EMOtion

Answer 2

Honestly, I believe the term "emo" to be the most inadequate genre label for music ever created. People generally just use it to describe music that is emotional and at times depressing. But music is art. If it isn't emotional, what the hell is it? That's why the classification "emo" has become somewhat perverted in my eyes. But here's what's up:

"These days, the term emo is used to describe any band playing guitar-based music that is emotional either in approach, lyrical focus or affect. 2003 brought the diary-like hit Dashboard Confessional and since then, indie-rock cross-overs Bright Eyes and Death Cab For Cutie have become successful pop acts while maintaining -- if erroneously -- the label emo. In addition, more emotional pop punk bands like Brand New, Fall Out Boy, Taking Back Sunday and Thursday are all ascribed the label regardless of whether they claim it for themselves. Today, 'emo' can describe almost anything emotional."
(http://altmusic.about.com/od/genresstyles/p/emo.htm)

and here is a pretty good history if you care to read it all:
http://www.angelfire.com/emo/origin/

Answer 3

Okay, so, if you ask people they'll probably tell you "emo" means a depressed whiny kid that should get on with his/her life. But really, that's just a definition of the label for people.

Emo when referring to music is a genre of rock music. At first, emo used to be a subgenre of hardcore punk. Really, the term emo is one that is, as you can probably tell, one that is under much debate. I've heard two different meanings for emo. One is that it is short for "emotive" and the other that it is short for "emotional."

"Emo is a broad title that covers a lot of different styles of emotionally-charged punk rock." (www.fourfa.com).
It's pretty hard to actually explain emo, so you might want to check out Wikipedia's page on it, fourfa.com, and other sites that are dedicated to explaining the genre.

Answer 4

Punk music on estrogen. Often acoustic guitar with soft, high male vocals that dwell exessively on the singer's feelings, especially melancholy remembrances of past relationships/mistakes in life. A form of music that diverged from punk in the '80s, the name "emo" is derived from the emotive style of the lyrics and music. This genre has lately been marketed heavily by the music industry to teenagers with bands such as Dashboard Confessional and Taking Back Sunday, and has seen much commercial and mainstream success. The music has also spawned a subculture which conforms to certain conventions in dress such as tight sweatshirts, tight band T-shirts and horn-rim glasses. Adherents profess to exessively melancholy temperments. Males that adhere to the emo subculture are sometimes confused with metrosexuals; indeed the line between the two is somwhat blurred, though both groups claim to be intouch with their emotional side. The ephemeral and hackneyed nature of emo songwriting suggests that its audience will be restricted largely to teenagers. the genre suffers from a lack of credibility outside the aforementioned demographic group, much like current Nu Metal bands.



WIKI says,,,

The term emo originated in the 1980s to describe a genre of music stemming from the hardcore punk music scene in Washington, D.C. Early bands labeled emo (or sometimes emocore) in this scene included Rites of Spring, Embrace, and Fugazi.The term emo as a music genre has become broader and broader with time, and now is loosely understood to mean "rock music with emotionally-based lyrics or effect." Bands included in the genre range from Bright Eyes to The Get Up Kids to Sunny Day Real Estate. The term is so loosely defined because its definition is still the subject of debate.Emo now often refers to a person's fashion, personality, or both, as well as the music genre.

Answer 5

emo stands for emotional. the whole black hair, black nails, tight pants, flat vans shoes, heavy eyeliner, all emotional people do. EMO. i look at it as the people that can dress with abercrombie they take that route and dress like that. EMO.

Answer 6

Emo= Emotional
Mostly sad deppressing music
the word came from shortening emotional
but an Emo is a person who is very deppressed and does stuff like cut themselves

Answer 7

Emotional Rock, or Emotive Rock. Also Emotional Hardcore. The emo style is vintage or thrift-store clothes, hats with pins, tight girl pants on both girls and guys, and skater shoes. Dyed-black with colored streaks, side-parted, face-covering hair for both guys and girls. It's a weird look.

Answer 8

Well if you want to de real there are no bands that are emo but its kinda a lesser version of goth like there close to goth but not quite and most emo bands are suposedly depressing ones but not all of them are like that.

Answer 9

Emo is a somewhat ambiguous, controversial slang term most frequently used to describe a fashion or subculture which is usually defined to have its roots in punk fashion and subculture, as well as some attributes of gothic fashion and subculture.

Answer 10

I wish my weed was Emo so it would cut itself.